The Fifth Fanatic: A Unit 22 Thriller By Mainak Dhar | Book Review

We love reading thrillers!

In our quest to find thrillers worth our time and money, we came to know about many authors, some well-known and some yet-to-be.

Mainak Dhar is one such author.

So far, we read the following books penned by him and shared our thoughts about.

• Sniper’s Eye | Book Review
• Sniper’s Debt| Book Review
• Sniper’s Quest by Mainak Dhar | Book Review
• In Enemy Hands
• Alice in Deadland – Trilogy : Book 1
• The 1st Assassin: A Unit 22 Thriller By Mainak Dhar | Book Review
• The 2nd Fugitive: A Unit 22 Thriller By Mainak Dhar
• The 3rd Survivor: A Unit 22 Thriller By Mainak Dhar
• The 4th Traitor: A Unit 22 Thriller By Mainak Dhar

We are also fortunate to have had an interaction with him. Here is the quick link to that author interview.

An Interview With Mainak Dhar

Currently we are reading his Unit 22 Thrillers book series. As we have already shared our views for the first four books in this series, today we are going to discuss about the fifth book – The 5^th Fanatic.

Book Cover:

The first impression has a long lasting impact, for sure. And, cover page of a book (or for that matter, any media) is responsible for doing the same. Thus, it surely influences a remarkable number of book reading and/or purchase decisions.

As you can see, the cover page of this book follows the theme of that of other books in the series.

The color, the designer has chosen for the background is quite interesting and appealing.

The snowy mountains shown in the background represents the places in Jammu and Kashmir in India quite effectively. You can also see a “shikara” floating in waters. The protagonist running towards something important and the sniper’s eye on the title adds to the positives of the cover page. I like it

Storyline:

Let us take a bird’s eye view of the book plot.

Major Aditya Sen, now feeling complete by finding a true partner he is looking for in Malini, is thinking of settling down. Sometimes you have to think about your loved ones, over your own emotions. His love and priority to serve for the nation is of course there. And, that’s why he is thinking to find suitable careers for both himself and Malini.

Malini goes abroad for further stuff and Aditya joins something he doesn’t like too much, but can give it a try!

Eventually, Aditya found himself in the state of Jammu and Kashmir attending a party where top leaders from politics are gathered for a summit of International level.

And, Aditya sensed that something is not right, when he was in corridor with a prominent figure. He saw a few fanatics preparing for assault the place. A fight happens and Aditya captures one of them. Before he hand him over to the security official, his sixth sense and analytical brain told him to fly from there.

So, he ran away with “the fifth fanatic” he captured. And, he came know about some sad things happened at the party, via news.

The powerful people, who were behind the attack and even much bigger conspiracy now need to get the hold of the fanatic captured by Major Sen, to keep their secret hidden. And, Aditya don’t want to hand him over. As, he cannot trust the authorities, especially in current scenario. And, the hunters are left with no option but to hunt for Aditya as well!

What happens this point forward? How the lives of Aditya’s mother and lady love would be affected due to all this? Who will support Aditya against all odds? And, who are the culprits? Who is leaking all the top-secret information? And,… Well, there can be a number of questions. And, to get the answers, you need to read this thriller.

And, over the course of the story you meet with Sen, Malini, Pratap, Bahadur, Shwetabh, Salil Murthy, Mr. Vinod Chowdhury (the HM), Swati Kant (the Indian journalist), Ratan Singh, Karim, Apeksha Haldia, Radhika Menon, Alex Symington, Bruce Nichols, Vikramjit Singh Kochhar (Vicky), Zahida, Kamran, Tahrir, Captain Aryan Mohan, Hamid, Dipankar Mitra, and Ankit Sharma amongst others.

Views And Reviews:

This book complements the series quite well. It feel amusing to see how the author is able to use 1,2,3,4,5 sequentially in book titles and writing the plot accordingly. It shows his expertise on narration structure and imaginative ways of story telling.

The good thing about Mainak’s books is that he never make his prime characters perform “Hara-kiri” or showing false bravado or promote jingoism. When writing a quality thriller where the patriotism, politics and other stuff are involved, it is really like walking on a tightrope. The author mastered the art. And the 9 chapters wide this book, is a proof.

Also, there are no fake feminism lectures or justified vulgarities and unethical things, in the name of “freedom” and “gender equality”. If you look properly, the characters of Malini and Aditya’s mother are the strongest characters in the book. Even stronger than the protagonist himself. And, that is what gender equality is all about.

I looked up in surprise at Ma, but then perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised. I suppose mothers are like that and Ma certainly was. She seemed to know what was on my mind without me even saying a word.

Aditya knows the strengths and weaknesses of Malini and himself both, and thus his future plan includes:

She was smart, she was ambitious, and she was meant for bigger things than navigating the government bureaucracy. I would continue doing the only job I knew how to do, and a job I loved doing.

And, like any other normal person, he also wishes…

We would move into a new house. Our life would be perfect. I told her I wanted three kids, whom I’d name Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie. She said she’d kill me if I did anything of the sort. Oh, the plans we made.

The changing situations in Aditya’s professional life is written convincingly.

I had been fired at many times in my life, but this was the first time I was sure that I was going to be fired from my job.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
For one, I hadn’t been able to just walk into his office, as I had always done with Srini. I had been asked by his assistant to sit outside as the boss was busy, so I stared at the closed door with a new nameplate on it. D. Mitra.

He, however cannot hold words back when asked some type of questions. No matter who is asking them.

“Sir, I have nothing personally against the Chinese, but given the line of work I’ve been in, and the not- so- brotherly relationship we’ve had with the Chinese, I and people like me on the Chinese side have had the opportunity to meet in free and frank exchanges at times. Sometimes those exchanges escalate beyond fraternal discussions, in which case, I try my best to get my boys back in one piece.”

Eventually, he learns using words thoughtfully.

“Sir, I don’t know about such an incident, and if it happened, it’s just serendipity.” See, even simple soldiers like me know some fancy words.

And, when a superior, whose integrity is beyond the question asks something, he feels that he is with right people.

“Sen, what have you done now? Who have you pissed off?” It was good to have a boss who knew you well.

And, he also enjoys the moments like:

“No alcohol served on this property, guys. So, we can have some colas.” Like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat, Pratap took out a bottle of rum. “Where did you get that?” “Magicians never tell, boss.”

The following lines talk effectively about a political scenario and tricky situations using simple yet effective words.

“We’re in for some turbulence, Sen. The new government is a mishmash of a dozen parties, which couldn’t agree on the dinner menu, let alone national policy.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
“Amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics, but politicians just need a good narrative.”
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
“When the politicians think they’re being very clever, bad things usually happen.”

The book has lines about combat tactics, obviously. And, one-liners too.

Just because you don’t like someone doesn’t mean you can’t admire him.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
“Never fight to your opponent’s strengths and use their strength against them.”

And when we read this line, we cannot disagree.

“My family fought for our nation’s freedom, and several of them have given their lives to serve our nation. There is no such thing as an ordinary army officer.”

And yes, the author also brings in a bookstore here as well.

…had stopped at the nearby Khan Market to visit the venerable Bahrisons bookstore.

The book has some interesting wordplays like:

What also helped was that Menon didn’t work for a company that sold chips, whether salted or silicon.

And, like other books in the series, here also appears lines like:

See, even simple soldiers like me can bullshit with the best of them when it comes to talking to bureaucrats.

In addition to avoidable words like “anyways”, the author also uses some interesting words like:

sleazeballs, incorrigible, masochistic, …

showing his literary expertise!

These quotes must have given you a fair idea about the quality of writing and whether it matches with your reading preference.

To me, the book is a perfect thriller with the right mix of emotions. The twists and turns coming periodically makes it a gripping read. The strong characters is a plus point of this book. Also, the gesture at the end of the book makes it stand apart from other such books.

Summary:

A perfect thriller with all the ingredients expected from it.

ThinkerViews Rating:

Around 8 out of 10.

Quick Purchase Links:

• Buy - The 5th Fanatic by Mainak Dhar - Kindle EBook - Amazon IN
• Buy - The 5th Fanatic by Mainak Dhar - Kindle EBook - Amazon US

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